Clothesline-support



W. H. ORTMAN.

CLOTHESLINE SUPPORT.

APPLICATION HLED'APR. 12. 1919.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.-

ATTDH N EY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. ORTMAN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

GLOTHESLINE-SUFPORT.

Application filed April 12, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. ORTMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of WVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothesline-Supports; and I do hereby declare that th following is a full,'clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention pertains to new and useful improvements in supports for clothes lines and similar ropes or cables.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a combination of means in connection with a clothes line or the like whereby the same may be quickly and easily strung from a plurality of posts or other supports and connected to any one of the latter depending upon the amount of rope to be supported and the number of objects to b carried thereby.

Still another object is to provide an improved combined pulley and clamp device whereby the cable or the like trained about said pulley may be secured in adjusted lengths.

With these and other objects and advantages in view, the invention resides in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more particularly described and claimed and shown in the drawing in which:

Figure 1 represents a plan view of a number of posts showing the manner of connecting a clothes line or the like thereto.

F 2 is a detail view of one of the combined pulleys and clamp devices, certain parts being broken away and shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a detail side elevational view of a modified hook and clamp device.

The arrangement of parts as depicted in Fig. l merely shows one of many combinations in which the major features of my invention may be utilized, but it serves to illustrate the peculiar advantages to be derived from the use of the combined pulley and clamp device, the preferred form of which is shown in the other figure. It is also to be understood that in addition to the changes in the combination, various minor changes may be made in the form and proportion and the association of the parts of the pulley and clamp device.

Referring mor particularly to the drawing, P and P designate a plurality of up- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 6, 1920.

Serial No. 289,587.

right posts or standards on which a clothes l ne C is to be strung. The post P carrles an automatic reel R, the drum of which is spring actuated to wind the clothes line C thereon. Each of the other posts supports one of the combined pulleys and clamp devices D, the preferred specific structure of which is more clearly illustrated in Fig. 2.

This device D comprises a substantially U- shaped strap 1 of sheet metal or the like having a relatively short arm 2 and a longer arm 3, the latter having its free end provided with an aperture lwhereby an eye is formed for engagement with a hook H on the post P. Although the long arm 3 is curved laterally slightly as at 3', the free end of the other arm 2 is similarly curved as at 2 so that a throat 5 is produced there between. The intermediate portion of the arm 2 is formed with a pair of parallel slits, one end of which is connected by a transverse slit to produce a tongue 6 that is adapted to be bent laterally inwardly and transversely of the length of the arms 2 and The free end of this tongue is disposed in an opening 7 in the intermediate part of the arm 3 to thus form a pivot pin on which a sheave 8 rotates. The throat 5 permits the clothes line or the like G to be moved be tween the arms 2- and 3 and engage with said sheave 8.

The hereinbefore mentioned clamp device is located in the normal path of the clothes line C as it extends from the sheave 8, it being preferably formed on the base or bight 9 of the strap 1. The carrier plate or arm 10 of this clamp device is formed integrally with the sheet metal strap structure, these parts being suitably stamped from appropriate material, after which the arm 10 is bent laterally.

In further carrying out the one piece arrangement the central portion of the arm 10 is out to provide a tongue which when bent laterally as indicated forms the stationary finger 11 of the clamp device. It will be noted that the longitudinal plane of this finger 11 is substantially at right angles to the axis of the sheave 8. A co operating movable clamp finger 12 is pivoted to the arm 10 to one side of the fixed finger l1. Said finger 12 being eccentrically pivoted, its clamping face is brought closer to the fixed finger 11 as it is moved in the direction of the arrow on the clothes line C plate to limit movement of the pivoted finger 12 in a reverse direction.

In the operation of the invention, assuming that the clothes line C is wound on the reel R and it is desired to string the same between the several posts P and P, the free end of said line is pulled from the reel against the tension of the spring thereof and disposed in engagement with the sheaves of the combined pulleys and clamp devices D and D, and then around the sheave of the device D. After this said end of the clothes line is disposed between the clamp fingers ot' the last mentioned device, the line will thus be stretched between the several posts, the spring reel It providing the necessary tension to maintain the line taut. A

Should only a short stretch of line be necessary, the end thereof may be engaged with the clamp means of either of the devices D or D instead of the device D". In

either instance when it is necessary to re lease the clothes line, the pivoted finger 12 of the proper device is moved from engagement with the adjacent portion of the clothes line and the latter is wound upon the drum of the reel B.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a modification of my invention designed to obviate the necessity for the use of the hooks II; the pulley sheave is also omitted in this device. By reference to the figure, it will be noted that the combined hook and clamp device is adapted to be constructed 0]": sheet metal stamped into the desired shape and consists of a hook 15 of ordinary shape having a threaded attaching shank 16 and a clamping member 17 carried by its bight. The latter is essentially similar to the clamping device shown in Fig. 2 and the cable is secured thereby in substantially the same manner. In this form of the invention, however, said cable contacts directly with the bight of the hook instead of with the sheave as in the other form.

I claim:

1. A device of the class described comprising in combination, a pulley strap formed in substantially U-shape, one of the arms thereof being longer than the other and provided with attaching means asheave pivoted between said arms intermediate their ends and transversely thereof, and a clamp device formed on the base of the U-- shaped strap and disposed in the normal path of a cable or the like adapted to be disposed around said sheave whereby to hold said cable or the like against movement in one direction.

A device of the class described comprising a strap, said strap being substantially iJ-shape, attaching means on one of the arms thereof, one of the arms ol said strap having a tongue struck therefrom and bent laterally transversely of the planes of said arms, an opening in the other of said arms to receive the free end of said tongue whereby to form a pivot pin, and a sheave journaled on said pivot pin.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand at Milwaukee, in the county or Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin.

WILLIAM H. ORIMAN. 

